


Coming Home

by bethispixie



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2016-08-28
Packaged: 2018-08-11 12:53:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7893187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethispixie/pseuds/bethispixie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky Barnes returns to high school after spending 2 years in a rehab facility. His best friend and partner in crime, Steve Rogers convinces him to join the basketball team, and with the other members, they spend their senior year preparing to play the schools best team in the game of the decade</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coming Home

**Title:** Coming Home

 **Author:** Bethispixie (Stucky-Parker on [Tumblr](http://stucky-parker.tumblr.com/))

 **Rating:** Teen

 **Summary:** Bucky Barnes returns to high school after spending 2 years in a rehab facility. His best friend and partner in crime, Steve Rogers convinces him to join the basketball team, and with the other members, they spend their senior year preparing to play the schools best team in the game of the decade.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own these characters Marvel does. The only thing I own is the plotline.

 **Author Notes:** Currently unbeta’d. I started writing this for the stucky big bang but because of family drama I couldn’t get to 10k in time. But I still want to post my progress so far.

 

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Bucky had been sitting in Steve’s car for around twenty minutes before either one of them had said anything.

“So back to the short hair then?” Steve questioned, his eyes flicking over to Bucky and then back to the road. Bucky blinked and turned to look at Steve.

“Sorry what was that?” The older boy replied, his eyes looking directly at Steve’s. Steve, who sighed and waved his hand around Bucky’s hair.

“It was longer when I saw you last week.”

“I...I wanted…So much of my life has changed. No one at school knows and I wanted something of the old me that I could have. Something that hadn’t been completely taken away from me, something that shows I’m still the same person I was in freshman year.” He sniffed and brushed his hands against his face.

“Buck… no one will care, and if they do, well… we have friends that could beat them up.”

“But Tony… I haven’t talked to him since the trial. That was two years ago Steve.”

“Tony is a dick. He’s angry about everything, but he knows it wasn’t your fault. So if he says anything, ignore him.” Bucky nodded and then went and looked out the window, images of the past summer with Steve and Sam filled his mind.

 

 In the summer before their sophomore year Bucky and his parents were involved in a car accident that cost Bucky his left arm. Bucky had spent two years being homeschooled at a rehab centre. During his second year, Bucky and his mother were contacted by an organisation that wanted to trial a bionic arm. He quickly volunteered and was soon fitted with a shiny metal arm. The metal arm which was currently crushing the strap of his school bag. “Bucky, everything will be okay. We get to spend our senior year together and I finally get my best friend back. I mean Sam and Peggy are great and all, but I’ve missed you being at school with us Buck,” Steve said, pulling into the car park of S.H.I.E.L.D High School. Bucky placed his feet up on the dash and pulled his bag onto his lap.

“I missed you too. I really did Steve. I just don’t want people walking on eggshells around me. It has been two years since the accident. I’m as okay as I can be and I just want to get on with my life.” Steve parked the car and turned to face the brunette.

“Well if you want normal you could always join the basketball team,” Steve saw the panic in his friend’s eyes and quickly started talking again. “Not the school team. I would never join them considering the fact that they made our lives hell when we were freshmen. Me and Sam made up a team last year. It’s just a bunch of misfits and outcasts that didn’t fit in with Tony and Rhodey’s ideals for their team.” Bucky rolled his eyes and smirked.

“I’ll think about it.” He pushed the car door open and jumped out. “You coming Rogers? Or are you just gonna leave me to fend for myself?” Steve laughed and followed Bucky towards the school doors.

“This is going to be great, Bucky and Steve united again!”

“Steve, dial down the excitement please.” The blonde _laughed_ again, producing what Bucky would call the most beautiful sound in the world, and lead Bucky down to where their homeroom was.

_Bucky Barnes, you are so screwed_

|||

 

 

When the bell that signified lunch had finally rung, Bucky mentally cheered. Steve has said earlier today that during lunch he would introduce him to the basketball team. To be quite frank Bucky only really cared about seeing Sam and Peggy, but he promised Steve that he would be as polite as he could and try to set a good example. Code for he would try not to swear. _Try_ being the operative word.

“I still don’t understand how knowing that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell will help me become an engineer. It isn’t like I want to become a biological engineer, just a regular mechanic. I do not need biology for that.” Bucky said as he and Steve exited their biology class and headed outside. After an incident in freshman year, and all the stories Steve had told him from the two years after that, he had decided to bring his own lunch to school in an attempt to avoid food poisoning. He didn’t even want to think about what was really in the school’s special _mystery meat_.

“And I don’t understand how reading Romeo and Juliet will help me become a tattoo artist. The world works in mysterious ways my friend.”

“Steve Rogers always a poet,” A voice said from behind them. Steve and Bucky spun around and there stood in all his glory, was Sam Wilson. “Bucky! Lookin’ good my friend.” Bucky laughed and then pulled Sam into a hug.

“I missed you dude. I’m sorry that I haven’t let you visit more… it’s just been tough.”

“Bucky I understand, you don’t need to apologise. You needed time to recover, I get that. But let’s not stand here and be all soppy. I believe we have a team to introduce you to.” Bucky nodded and followed Sam and Steve who were walking over to a group of trees were in the corner of the courtyard. A girl with long brown hair was sat on one of the seats, a book in one hand and an apple in the other. “Wanda!” Sam yelled and the girl looked up and waved. The three boys made their way over to the table. Sam sat down next to Wanda and Steve sat on the other side. Bucky sat himself next to Steve and pulled out a brown paper bag from his rucksack.

“So you must be Bucky, it is nice to finally meet you,” the girl said, a thick European accent tainting her voice. “Steve talks about you _all_ the time. He won’t shut up about you actually, it’s quite ador-“

“Bucky this is Wanda Maximoff.” Steve said cutting the girl off. “The only girl and the only junior on our team. She is one of our best players.”

“It’s nice to meet you Wanda.” Bucky smiled at the girl and then started to eat his lunch.

“So Sam, how is Riley doing? It’s his first day at Xavier high today isn’t it?” Wanda asked, placing a bookmark in her book and then stuffing it into her bag.

“Well he texted me this morning but he doesn’t have the same lunch as us so I’ll have to find out how his day went later. He’s coming over after basketball practice today but I might ask him to arrive earlier. I am so glad that this is our senior year though, I don’t think we would have handle being at separate schools for more than a year. I am barley lasting four hours without him.”

“Yeah. It sucks that he had to move across the city though. He is a really great guy. Great at basketball too.” Steve added, pulling out a box of pasta salad from his bag.

“Who is Riley?” Bucky questioned.

“He’s my boyfriend,” Sam said sternly, “I’m gay.” Bucky sensed the change of tone quickly.

“Hey Sam I don’t care. It would be a bit hypocritical of me if I did.” Sam gave him a confused look. “Oh Steve didn’t tell you. Um okay. I’m bi.” Sam smiled; Wanda smirked.

“No I didn’t tell them. I didn’t know if you wanted me to. I mean some people don’t want to share their orientations.” Steve stated in between mouthfuls of his lunch.

“Well I don’t really care who knows. I mean its 2016. If anyone has a problem with it they can shove it up their ass.”

“True that!” Sam cheered.

 

Bucky and Sam were in a deep conversation about Riley when three other boys walked over to their table. There was a tall blonde who looked like he was from Nordic or Scandinavian descent. He had shoulder length hair that was tied up at the back of his head, was carrying a brown paper bag and had a pile of books resting in his arms. There were two shorter boys stood next to him. One had short blonde hair and had a pair of purple hearing aids in his ears and the other was a brunette who had a look of mischief in his eyes.

“Bucky this is Thor Odinson, Clint Barton and Scott Lang. They make up the rest of our team.” Steve said pointing the boys. “Guys, this is Bucky Barnes.” The boys sat down in the available spaces on the table and pulled out their lunches.

“It is nice to meet you,” Scott said “Steve talks about you a lot.”

“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Steve whined.

“Because it’s true Steve,” Clint said, picking up a chocolate chip cookie from his lunch box. “Also Bucky, watch your stuff around Scott. He likes to ‘borrow things’.”

“LIES!” Scott yelled before throwing a scrunched up piece of paper at Clint.

“Thor, where is Jane?” Wanda questioned, throwing the apple core from the apple she was eating earlier into the bin.

“She is off with Scott’s girlfriend-“

“Hope.” Scott added.

“Yes. She is off with Hope and Darcy. I think they’re meeting up with Bruce for some sort of science project.”

“Are they coming to watch practice after school?” Sam asked, pulling out his phone.

“I don’t think so. Peggy told me that they were having a study group after school.” Steve answered.

“I just texted Riley and told him that he could come and watch if he wanted,” Sam said “I hope that’s okay.”

“Of course it is. Sam you are such an idiot, I mean it is your house that we practise at. You can invite the president if you want.” Steve replied, laughing afterwards.

“Well when I meet him, I’ll be sure to tell him that he is welcome to swing by.” Sam replied sarcastically. “Or I’ll tell her. It could be a female president. I mean it Hilary versus Trump. If it is not a female president I am moving to Canada.”

“I think that everyone agrees with you there.”

 

The bell rang to signify the end of lunch and the group of seven got up and parted ways.

“We don’t have any classes together now so I’ll meet you outside at the end of the day.” Steve said.

“Yep okay see you then. Bye.” Bucky replied before walking off.

 

 

|||

 

 

Bucky was sat on a bench outside the main school building when Steve walked over to him. He had the blue hoodie that he was wearing earlier tucked into the strap of his rucksack, a pile of books in his arms and a smile on his face. Bucky sighed.

Bucky discovered that he was bisexual when he was twelve years old. The discovery was probably prompted when he found out that he had a crush on the girl who lived next door, and her twin brother. During the summer after the accident Bucky told Steve that he was bi. He replied by saying “Cool me too bro.” Bucky thought it was very emotional… okay maybe he didn’t think it was emotional but anything to pull on your heartstrings right? It was only last year, when Steve started talking about a girl in his class that he had a crush on, that he discovered his feelings for his best friend. Let’s just say that those feelings escalated very quickly. Bucky was very much in love with Steve. Head over heels, thinking about him twenty-four seven kind of love.

“Peggy said she was going to meet us at Sam’s after her study group has finished. I was thinking we could go and get ice cream. Me, you, her and Sam. Like the old times.” Steve said once he reached Bucky.

‘Well you know me, never say no to ice cream. Becca told me that Indigo’s Ice Cream sells cakes as well, maybe we could go there.”

“Sounds good.” Steve fished around in his bag for a while before pulling out his car keys. There were a bunch of key rings looped onto it but Bucky like the NOH8 one that he got for Steve last year. “Shall we get going?” Bucky nodded and the pair walked over to Steve’s car.

 

“I have some gym clothes in my bag… did you want to-“ Steve started before Bucky cut him off.

“I’m just going to watch this practice Steve. I still haven’t made mind up yet. I’ll just sit with Riley. Get to know him a bit.”

“Good luck with that, he’ll probably be too busy drooling over Sam to give you more than five seconds of his time.” Bucky smirked.

“Well I’ll have you know I’m more bootyful that Sam. Maybe Riley will fall in love with me and we can drive off into the sunset together.”

“Bootyful? Really Buck?” Steve laughed and Bucky smiled.

“Yeah, bootyful. It’s a real descriptive thing.”

“An adjective.”

“Yeah an adjective.”

“How are you even passing English?”

“Well considering I’ve only been to one English class this year, I am not be able to tell you.”

“Oh stop being such a smart ass Barnes.”

“Oh you love it Stevie.”

“You haven’t called me that since we were ten.”

“I thought you didn’t like me calling you that. You said it made you feel smaller than you already were, you know, before you beefed up.” He laughed.

“Well you know me Buck, always one for a good nickname,” The older boy smiled. “Now stop distracting me. I’m trying to drive.”

“Yes sir!” Bucky replied before bursting into a fit of laughter.

 

 

|||

 

 

Bucky opened the door of Steve’s car and got out as soon as he pulled into Sam’s driveway.

“God, I still hate car journeys. I hate to break it to you, but the road trip you always wanted to do, you’re going to have to do it without me.” He said, grabbing his rucksack.

“That’s fine. I never liked you anyways.”

“You lie!” Steve smiled and got out of the car, locking in after him. They boys walked up to the front door and Steve pressed the button on the door bell. The door opened and the pair were greeted by Sam’s mother. She waved them in, telling them that Sam was already outside training. She took their coats and patted Bucky on the shoulder, telling him how nice it was to see him again. Steve ran upstairs to get changed, so Bucky headed out into the backyard. Sam was practicing layups whilst talking to another boy. The boy in question was slightly shorter than Sam and was sat on a picnic table, his feet resting on the bench below. He had messy blonde hair, pale skin and a pencil tucked behind one ear. He was holding a phone in his hand and an open textbook was balanced on his lap.

“You must be Riley.” Bucky guessed, walking over to the boys. He placed his bag on the floor and hopped onto the table.

“That’s my name. You must be Bucky. Steve has told me a lot about you.” The boy returned.

“It seems like Steve has really been singing my good graces.” Sam burst into laughter.

“Hey, I never said it was all good things.” Riley countered.

“True.”

“Speaking of Steve, where is he?” Sam queried.

“He is upstairs getting changed into gym clothes.”

“I take it that you’re not joining us?”

“Nope,’ he said, popping the ‘p’. “I will be reading the wonderful Romeo and Juliet and annotating it until I feel the need to gouge me eyes out.”

“Good, you can help me. I have to read and annotate the first four scenes of act one. We can both have a whale of a time.” Riley said.

“Ooh, sarcasm. I like you.” The trio laughed. At that moment Steve walked outside. It was a good thing that Bucky was not drinking or eating as he probably would have choked. Steve was wearing a tight white t-shirt that clung to his abs and pretty much every part of his torso, and blue shorts that were doing the same. He was stood directly under the sun; the angle that it was hitting him made Bucky think that he was staring at a god. Riley nudged him with his elbow and when he caught Bucky’s attention: he smirked.

“Do you want to set up a drill?” Sam inquired. Steve nodded and they walked off towards the shed in the corner of the garden.

 

About an hour later, everyone had shown up and the practice was in full swing. The team were playing a three v three game. Bucky and Riley and sat opposite each other on the picnic table, their Romeo and Juliet books open in front of them and coloured pens scattered around them.

“So I take it that Steve doesn’t know that you have a crush on him.” Riley said bluntly.

“What? I- pft… I have no idea what you mean.” Riley raised his right eye brow, questioning Bucky.

“Yes and I am the queen of England. Come on. Tell me. It’ll give us something to bond over.”

“You… you won’t tell anyone will you? Not even Sam?”

“Not even Sam. I promise.”

‘Okay. To answer you, Steve does not know. And I hope that he never will.”

“But why? I mean he is bi. You have a fifty - fifty chance of him liking you back.”

“I know that much. It’s just… He’s my best friend. I wouldn’t want to anything to mess up that friendship.”

“Okay, ignore the really bad pun, but I’m going to be straight with you. I felt the exact same way before I started dating Sam. But I then realised, after much deliberation, that he was my best friend. Even if we broke up, nothing would be able to take that bond away. It is the same with you too. You have been friends forever. Nothing will be able to stop that. If being with Steve will make you happier, just go for it you have nothing to lose. Even is he says no, he won’t hate you. It could be a little bit awkward for a while, but he will never stop being your friend. That’s not the way Steve is.”

“Wow. You sure know how to give a great pep talk.”

“It is the same one my mom gave to me after I told her that I was gay and that I had a crush on Sam. She told me that because Sam and I had become best friends in such a short amount of time, nothing would be able to ruin our friendship that we had such a strong bond. I already knew Sam was gay, so homophobia wasn’t a problem. I grabbed life by the horns, took the risk and it paid off. I know we are young but I know that I am going to try and stay with Sam for as long as possible because I am undoubtedly head over heels for him. Take the risk Bucky, it could pay off.”

“Thanks Riley. You really are good at putting things into perspective. Ever thought of becoming a psychologist?”

“Yeah, actually I have. After my parents got divorced, my mom and I saw a family shrink and I became really interested in psychology. I want to work in a hospital with um… trauma victims and stuff. Shootings, um car accidents. That kind of thing.”

“Cool. My shrink was really crappy after my accident. Just kept telling me to think happy thoughts. He was an ass, and a homophobe. We didn’t get on.”

“Bucky… That sucks, I’m sorry.”

“Hey, you don’t need to apologise. I’m sure you’ll be ten times better than him, although, that wouldn’t be hard.” Riley smiled. “Right, enough soppy-ness. Romeo and Juliet?”

 

 

|||

 

 

After practice finished Peggy was waiting outside Sam’s house. The quartet headed towards Steve’s car. Steve sat in the driver’s seat and Sam sat directly behind him. Peggy went to open the passenger door next to Steve when Bucky stopped her.

“Peg… Do you mind if I sit in the front. I… Um can’t sit anywhere else.” Peggy grinned.

“Sure that’s fine Jam-“

“Peggy what did I say about calling me James? No one does it.”

“And Peg, your real name is Margret so you can’t exactly say anything to him about having a nickname.” Steve added.

“Could you guys stop discussing Bucky’s names and get in the damn car. The ice cream aint gunna eat itself!” Sam shouted. Everyone laughed and Peggy and Bucky got into the car.


End file.
